'The Walking Dead': 5 things to remember about last season before Season 8 premieres

To celebrate the Oct. 22 Season 8 premiere of The Walking Dead — the series’ 100th episode — Yahoo Entertainment will be posting a new TWD-related story every day through the season opener.

Gruesome. Scary. A hellscape plagued with impending doom around each corner. But enough about 2017 — let’s take a look at a show that seems as peaceful as tea in the park, The Walking Dead. A lot of things went down in Season 7. We’re going to give you the five most important events to remember before the premiere of Season 8.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan might have debuted as the long-anticipated bad man Negan in Season 6, but Season 7 was when he made a big impact. Like the impact of the bat on Abraham’s head (RIP) or the impact of the bat to Glenn’s head (RIP, again). He also tortured Rick into a weepy mess and proved you can indeed brainwash someone with a power mullet — Eugene.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan. (Photo: AMC)

2. Maggie now runs a different group

You know how in Star Trek: Undiscovered Country, Sulu became the captain of his own starship? You don’t? Well … he did. Basically, he went from being a member of the group to running his own group. I bring this up, even though I didn’t have to, to compare it to what happened with Maggie. She was part of Rick’s group and then left to run her own — Hilltop. She seized control from Gregory, who was the worst.

3. We met a bunch of important players

It’s not just Maggie, Rick, and Negan calling the shots. In the Kingdom, there’s Ezekiel, the man with an arsenal of flowery language and an assistant named Jerry who loves him some cobbler. Oh, and a pet tiger. Can’t forget the tiger. There’s Natania, leader of Oceanside, a group of women who have felt the brunt of Negan’s wrath. And there’s the boss of the Scavengers, Jadis. Jadis loves to speak in. broken. sentences to. people. She also. betrayed Rick. and sided with…

…

Negan.

4. RIP, Sasha

Sasha left the show to explore space, kind of like Sulu did in … never mind. Sasha, after being taken prisoner by Negan, killed herself with the purpose of becoming a zombie so she could kill Negan with a single chomp. It didn’t work, and Sasha died in vain. But if you look to the stars it’s almost like you can see her.

5. Here comes the war

After a season of hemming and hawing, the leaders of Alexandria, the Kingdom, and Hilltop are banding together to take on Negan. Will they win? There’s only one way to find out.